Apparatus for dyeing strings of yarn and method of operating same



May 19, 1970 c. KRONSBEIN 3,512,193

' APPARATUS FOR DYEING STRINGS OF YARN AND METHOD OF OPERATING SAME Original Filed March 26, 1964 6 Sheets-:Sheet l 5 INVENTOR CurtKRONSBEIN LL. y

his ATTORNEYS.

' c. KRONSBEIN APPARATUS FOR DYEING STRINGS OF YARN- May 19, 1970 I AND METHOD OF OPERATING SAME Original Filed March 26, 1964 M m (MV INVENTOR Curt KRONSBEIN OF 00 mm @m mm 0 5 OF his ATTORNEYS.

May 19, 1970 c. KRONSBEIN 3,512,193

APPARATUS FOR DYEING STRINGS OF YARN AND METHOD OF OPERATING SAME Original Filed March 26, 1964 6 Sheets-Sheet 3 FIG.5

INVENTOR CuPtKRONSBEIN hiSATTORNEYS.

May 19, 1970 c. KRONSBEIN 3,512,193

APPARATUS FOR DYEING STRINGS OF YARN AND METHOD OF OPERATING SAME Original Filed March 26, 1964 6 Sheets-Sheet 4 FIG.6

INVE NTOR Curt KRONSBEIN his ATTORNEYS.

- May 19, 1970 c. KRONSBEIN 3,512,193

APPARATUS FOR DYEING STRINGS OF YARN 1 AND METHOD OF OPERATING SAME Original Filed March 26, 1964 6 Sheets-Sheet 5 INVE NTOR v Curt KRONSBEI N his ATTORNEYS,

May 19, 1970 c. KRONSB EIN 3,512,193

APPARATUS FOR DYEING STRINGS .OF YARN 3 AND METHOD OF OPERATING SAME Original Filed March 26, 1964 6 Sheets-Sheet 6 FIG.7

INVENTOR CurtKRONSBEIN y his A'T-TQR N-EY&

United States Patent Office 3,512,193 Patented May 19, 1970 Int. Cl. D06f 35/ D06p 7/00 US. Cl. 8--155.2 1 Claim ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE This disclosure provides an apparatus and a method for dyeing strings of textile material. The particular method of this disclosure is directed to the dyeing of textile material that is wound up to form a packed condition in the textile material. This textile material is placed in a pressure dyeing zone where a source of dye liquor is pumped to pass through the yarn. The flow of dye liquor is maintained at an amount effective to keep substantially no accumulation of dye liquor in the dyeing zone. The flow of liquor is maintained at a relatively large amount to increase the frequency of passage of the said liquor through the yarn. A further step of the process involves raising the temperature within the dyeing zone as quickly as possible to a point sufficient to establish substantially the same absorption conditions for all components of the dye liquor.

Background of the invention This is a division of application Ser. No. 354,844, filed Mar. 26, 1964 and now abandoned.

In known apparatuses for dyeing strings of yarn, the strings are suspended from horizontal carrier tubes of a tube system and the dye liquor pumped into the tube system emerges through perforations in the carrier tubes, flows over the strings of yarn, collects on the bottom of the dyeing vessel and is again pumped into the tube system in a continuous circuit. In the known apparatuses of this type the tube systems are however stationarily arranged in the vessels for treatment of the yarn. For this reason the strings of yarn must be removed from the carrier tubes after their treatment, be moved to the stations for further treatment and suspended there again. Moving the wet strings of yarn which are much heavier than in dry condition, is a time-consuming, complicated and unpleasant job. Moreover, considerable idle periods will result from suspending the strings of yarn and changing their positions.

Summary of the invention It is the object of the present invention to provide an apparatus for and a method of dyeing strings of yarn in a more economical, efiicient and convenient manner.

According to the invention, an apparatus for dyeing strings of yarn comprises at least one charging carriage adapted to move in an endless path through a dyeing station and subsequent rinsing and drying stations, a tube system arranged on the charging carriage and including horizontal perforated carrier tubes for suspending therefrom the strings of yarn to be dyed, the dyeing and rinsing stations including a vessel and a pump for circulating the dye liquor and the rinsing liquid through the tube system, at least one connection piece for the tube couplings on the tube system of the charging carriage and a corresponding tube coupling oneach stationary pressure conduit of the circulating pumps for establishing a pressure-tight and detachable tube connection to the connection piece of the tube system on the charging carriage as it moves into each station so that the dye liquor and the rinsing liquid circulated by the pumps will flow through the tube system, emerge from the perforations of the carrier tubes, flow down the strings of yarn suspended from the carrier tubes, collect on the bottom of the vessel and will be rc-supplied to the tube system by the pumps.

Furthermore, in a preferred embodiment of the invention, the dyeing station, the rinsing station and at least one drying station are each equipped with a track rail, all the track rails being arranged at the same level one directly behind the other in such a manner that the charging carriage can be continuously moved on the track rails in a straight path through the several stations arranged in a row. With this arrangement, the charging carriage may, for example, be moved by a pushing feeder arranged in front of the first station.

The invention further proposes to arrange the dyeing, rinsing and drying stations, in several parallel rows and to provide carriages swingable on the ground for moving the charging carriages from one row to the other outside the stations, the swingable carriages being equipped with rails level with the charging carriage for receiving and conveying the latter. The swingable carriages may be actuated by a pivotable arm which swings the charging carriages from the straight path of the one row through 180 into the straight path of the other row. Instead of the swingable carriages also transversely movable trucks may be provided.

The basic advantage of the apparatus proposed by the present invention is that the wet strings need not be moved manually from one station to the other. The strings are hung on the carrier tubes of the charging carriage in dry state and remain there until they are completely dried. For operating the apparatus proposed by the present invention, one person is sufiicient who places the dry strings of yarn on the charging carriage and removes the finished and dried strings. All other operations are effected automatically.

In a further embodiment of the apparatus proposed by the invention, the dyeing station, the rinsing station and, if desired, the drying station are expediently arranged in a first row and any desired number of further drying stations are arranged in a second parallel row. This arrangement provides for advantageous positioning of the stations in addition to permitting automatic transportation of the charging carriages.

The invention further includes the proposal to provide a second dyeing station and a rinsing station in a third parallel row. When the stations are arranged in three rows, expediently transversely movable trucks are provided at each end of the rows for moving charging carriages outside the stations. These trucks should be movable over all the rows and the arrangement must be such that the charging carriage can be moved into a drying station after it has passed through the rinsing station.

The provision of two dyeing stations affords the advantage that the other station can be used to avoid idle periods when the dye is changed which takes rather a long time for cleaning the dyeing vessel.

According to a further proposal of the invention, instead of setting up a stationary rinsing station behind each of the two dyeing stations, only one common rinsing station may be provided which is movable in transverse direction behind the dyeing stations. Thus, the rinsing station can be moved to the position where a charging carriage is to be received after the termination of each dyeing operation. One of the positions is the working position where stationary connections are provided for the rinsing station. The rinsing station can be moved in such a man- 3 net that the charging carriage can be passed on to a drying station.

Water adhering to the rinsed strings of yarn may be removed by a special type of squeezing device which comprises vertically movable rubber bags adapted to be moved between the strings of yarn and to be inflated, for example by introducing compressed air, so as to expand and squeeze the intervening strings of yarn together and remove the water therefrom.

The use of the charging carriage which can move from one station to the other, affords the possibility of carrying out the entire treatment of the strings of yarn, i.e. the dyeing, rinsing, finishing and drying operations, in a continuous method. After termination of each working phase, all the charging carriages are moved on simultaneously at least in one row.

The proposed method is particularly economical when the times of treatment in the individual stations are substantially of the same duration. Hitherto, however, the operation of dyeing strings of yarn took about two to four hours, whereas the time required for the rinsing and drying operations was considerably shorter. To adapt the dyeing time to the times of treatment in the other stations, the invention therefore proposes a dyeing method requiring a particularly short time and carried out in a pressure vessel.

This proposed dyeing method is characterized in that the amount of dye liquor is kept so small that no noticeable amount thereof will remain in the dyeing vessel and that the dyeing temperature of more than 100 C. is reached in as short a time as possible, about 4 to 8 minutes, the dyeing temperature being preferably so high that the same constant absorption conditions are obtained for all components of the dye liquor.

When using this method the amount of the dye liquor in relation to the delivery of the pump is as small as possible. Only so much dye liquor will be in circulation that the stream of the dye liquor will never be interrupted. The dyeing vessel, which in this case must be a pressure vessel, will thus be practically empty and be filled only with steam and air and as a result, the dyeing time will be considerably reduced and adapted to the times of the other treatment so that the sequence of operations is considerably reduced and the charging carriages can be moved on more quickly.

The following aspects are still of importance for the dyeing method proposed by the invention and requiring only a short time:

As is known, every component of a dye has a temperature range in which the afiinity to the yarn to be dyed is greatest and a maximum absorption speed is obtained. This maximum absorption speed is different for the individual components of the dye, but it is generally substantially below the actual dyeing temperature. When the temperature passes beyond these afiinity ranges, the absorption speed of the dye components becomes smaller, however, the absorption conditions become more and more similar and approach each other asymptotically. Hitherto it was believed that the dyeing method was carried out rationally when the temperature was kept for a considerable time in the ranges of the greatest aflinity. Often the temperature was maintained for some time in the various stages of maximum efiinity. The general practice was to increase the dyeing temperature slowly in about 2 to 3 hours to the maximum temperature. When this temperature was reached it had still to be maintained for a considerable time to obtain a uniform distribution or equilization of the dye components in the yarn to be dyed.

Contrary to this general practice hitherto adopted by those skilled in the art, the invention proposes that the dyeing temperature of more than 100 C. is reached in as short a time as possible, about 2 to 8 minutes, and the dyeing temperature is so high that constant absorption conditions are obtained for all components of the dye liquor. Unexpectedly, it has been found that by rapidly increasing the temperature up to the range of like absorption conditions and maximum equalizing capacity, in spite of the slight affinity existing there, substantially shorter over-all dyeing times are attained than was hitherto the case. The reason for this probably is that in a range of more than C. the dye passes slowly but uniformly on to the yarn so that all the components are well distributed in the yarn from the first. It has been realized according to the invention that the gain in uniformity has a much more favourable effect on the over-all dyeing time than was hitherto assumed. Apart from the advantage of gaining time, the method proposed by the invention affords the further advantage that several batches of dyed yarn can be obtained successively without diiferences in colour between the individual batches. It is even possible to reproduce the same colouring according to a fixed recipe.

The uniformity and speed of dyeing can be further increased when each individual particle of the dye liquor is made to travel as often as possible through the yarn per unit of time. The frequency of the passage of the dye liquor, the so-called return of the dye liquor, can be increased by increasing the delivery of the pump expressed in cubic meters per minute, on the one hand, and by reducing the absolute amount of dye liquor expressed in cubic meters, on the other hand, so that the return of the dye liquor is expressed in liters per minute. Whereas in the hitherto known methods of dyeing strings of yarn the return of the dye liquor has been deliberately kept small by using full baths and, as a rule, amounted to 2 to 3, this value amounts to more than 10 in the method proposed by the present invention. The return of the dye liquor is limited by the resistance of the yarn to winding. This means that the delivery of the pump at a certain winding resistance must not be so high that the yarn is damaged. When the winding resistance is reduced the return of the dye liquor can in some cases also be increased up to 20, in individual cases also more. The method proposed by the invention is not only applicable to yarns in the form of strings, but also to any other types of material to be dyed whether they are wound or packed on spools or beams or in the form of so-called muffs.

Brief description of drawings Two preferred embodiments of the invention will now be described by way of example and with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a ground plan view of a first embodiment of a dyeing apparatus according to the invention;

FIG. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view of the stations A, B and C of the apparatus shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the drying station 1;

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of the rinsing station B;

FIG. 5 is an elevational view, partly in section, of a detail of the apparatus, showing a tube coupling between a charging carriage and a pressure conduit of a circulats P p;

FIG. 5a is a view similar to FIG. 5, showing a telescopically movable piece of tube alternatively usable in the tube coupling of FIG. 5;

FIG. 6 is a ground plan view of another embodiment of the dyeing apparatus,

FIG. 6a is a ground plan view of the continuation of the embodiment as shown in FIG. 6 including the rinsing and drying stations of the dyeing apparatus, and

FIG. 7 is a side elevational view of the dyeing apparatus of FIG. 6.

Description of specific embodiments FIG. 1 shows a charging carriage 1 provided with perforated carrier tubes 2 from which strings of yarn 3 to be dyed are suspended. The charging carriage 1 is provided with wheels 4 (FIG. 2) adapted to run in U-shaped rails 5. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the charging carriage 1, after having been loaded with the strings of yarn 3 to be dyed in a charging and removing station D, is moved by means of a swingable carriage 6 in the direction of the arrow from the station D in front of a container 7 which receives the dye liquor under pressure in a dyeing station A. After a rolling door 9 of the container 7 has been opened, the charging carriage 1 can then be pushed into the container 7 by means of a pneumatically operated feeder 8. When moving from the charging station D to the dyeing station A, the swingable carriage 6 is turned through 180 by means of a worm gear 10 and an electric motor 11 and is supported on the ground by means of a wheel 13 and carries on its top the U-shaped rail 5 and the charging carriage 1. This carriage 1 is formed of tubes 14 through which the dye liquor and rinsing liquor is fed to the carrier tubes 2 from which the strings of yarn 3 are suspended.

The charging carriage 1 is provided with two connection pieces 15 for tube couplings which can be coupled to a pressure conduit 16 of a circulating pump 17. The

container 7 for receiving the dye liquor under pressure is provided with a trough-like bottom 19 and the circulating pump 17 has a suction conduit 18 which is connected to the lowest point of this trough-like bottom 19.

The dye liquor is prepared in concentrated form in a supply tank 20 (FIG. 1). A certain quantity of the liquor is taken from the supply tank 20, measured in a measuring tank 21, mixed therein with a certain quantity of Water from a water conduit 22, and fed to the container 7 by means of an electrically or pneumatically controlled valve 23. After the two rolling doors 9 have closed the container 7 in a pressure-tight manner with the aid of packings 24, the circulating pump 17 is started and the dye liquor will circulate through the suction conduit 18, thepump 17, the pressure conduit 16, the perforated carrier tubes 2 and over the strings of yarn 3. The dye liquor can be heated to the desired dyeing temperature either by introducing fresh steam through a socket (FIG. 2) or by supplying the required heat through a heat exchanger 26 or by both measures simultaneously. After termination of the dyeing operation, for which about 10 to minutes are required, the used bath is let olf through a discharge valve 27 and thereby pressure is removed from the container 7. After the rolling doors 9 have been opened, the charging carriage 1 is moved from the dyeing station A into a rinsing station B and a new charging carriage is moved into the dyeing station A, the movement of the charging carriages being again performed by the pneumatically operated feeder 8. The rearward rolling door 9 of the container 7 is provided with an inclined surface 28 which engages a horizontal roller 29 on the charging carriage 1 when the rolling door 9 is closed and the charging carriage 1 has been pushed on to the rinsing station B, the charging carriage 1 being pushed further by the inclined surface 28 by a distance suflicient to allow the rolling door 9 to move in.

In the rinsing station B, which is shown in FIG. 4 in cross section, the treatment of the strings of yarn 3 consists of the rinsing and, if required, finishing operations and the subsequent draining operation. The rinsing station B comprises an open tub 30 to the lower point of which a suction conduit 31 of a rinsing pump 32 is connected. A pressure conduit 33 of the rinsing pump 32 can again be coupled to the tube system of the carriage 1 through the connection pieces 15 and tube couplings. The various rinsing baths are introduced into the tub 30 through a conduit 34 provided with a control valve 35. The used baths are discharged through a discharge valve 36. If required, the rinsing baths can be heated through a heat exchanger 37.

Water is removed from the strings of yarn 3 by means of a vertically movable device comprising mat-like rubber bags 39 resiliently suspended from a frame 38. The frame 38 with the rubber bags 39 can be lowered through a pneumatic drive in such a manner that one rubber bag will be located between two of the strings of yarn 3 and cover the entire area thereof except the upper portion with which the strings are suspended from the carrier tubes 2. Then compressed air will be introduced into the rubber bags 39 through flexible connection tubes 41. Due to the expansion of the rubber bags 39, the strings of yarn 3 will be compressed and the adhering water squeezed off. After termination of this squeezing operation, a vacuum source can be connected to the tube 41, if required, to re-contract the rubber bags 39 to prevent the strings of yarn 3 from tangling when the device is lifted.

The strings of yarn 3 from which water has been squeezed ofi are then moved on the same carriage 1 into a drying station C shown in cross section in FIG. 3. In the station C the strings of yarn 3 are dried by feeding in a known manner hot air by means of circulating fans 42 from above over the strings of yarn 3 suspended from the carriage 1. The drying air is heated by a heat exchanger 43.

After the strings of yarn 3 have been partially dried, the carriage 1 with the strings of yarn 3 is moved onto a second swingable carriage 6w which is turned through and moved in front of a second drying station C by means of a motor 11a and a worm gear 10a and provided with a wheel 13a similarly to the swingable carriage 6. A pneumatically driven pusher 44 serves to move the carriage 1 from its position in front of the drying station C into this drying station or apparatus. In this drying apparatus, which works in the same manner as the drying station C drying of the strings of yarn 3 is completed and after that the strings of yarn 3 are again moved onto the swingable carriage 6 which conveys the charging carriage 1 with the finished and dried strings of yarn 3 thereon into the charging and removing station D where the finished strings of yarn 3 are removed and new strings of yarn are placed on the charging carriage 1.

During the automatic operation of the apparatus a charging carriage will be present at each of the stations A, B, C C and D so that all the stations are simultaneously in operation and a high degree of efficiency is achieved. If the extent of drying achieved in the two drying station C and C is not sufiicient, any desired number of further drying stations may be provided.

FIG. 5 shows a possible form of construction of the tube couplings and the connection pieces 15. The connection piece 15 and the pressure conduit 16 supplying the dye liquor are shown more clearly in this figure together with a coupling device controlled by compressed air and fitted in the trough-like bottom 19 of the container 7. This coupling device substantially consists of a rubber lip sealing, an elastic piece of tube and a pull rod carrying a piston at its lower end. This piston is movable in a compressed air cylinder of the double-acting type. By admitting compressed air to the respective sides of the piston, the pull rod is moved upwardly or downwardly to urge the rubber lip sealing against the connection piece 15 or to retract it therefrom. Alternatively, the elastic piece of tube may be replaced by concertina walls or a telescopically movable piece of tube shown in FIG. 5a.

The apparatus shown in FIG. 6 in ground plan view and in FIG. 7 in elevational view comprises'two dyeing stations A and A Movable transversely and in front of these dyeing stations on rails 54 is a truck 53 receiving and carrying a charging carriage 51 shown in its position for loading and unloading in FIG. 6. To facilitate the loading and unloading operations, the charging carriage 51 can be pivoted on the truck 53 about a vertical axis. Also in this embodiment, the charging carriage 51 is provided with carrier tubes 52.

When the apparatus is in operation the truck 53 is moved on the rails 54 in front of one of the dyeing stations A or A and pushed into the dyeing station by means of the feeder 8.

On the other side of the dyeing stations A and A there is a rinsing station B B which with all associated elements is in the form of a transversely movable carriage adapted to be moved on rails 55. This carriage is moved behind the respective dyeing station where a charging carriage is to be received. One of the two positions of the carriage is the working position of the rinsing station where stationary connections are provided for the carriage of the rinsing station. After termination of the rinsing operation, the charging carriage 51 is passed on to the drying station C where the strings of yarn are preliminarily dried and after that the charging carriage is passed on to the second drying station C and a further drying station C via a rail 58 and with the aid of a transversely movable truck 57 running on rails 56. From the drying station C the charging carriage 51 is moved via a rail 59 into its position for loading and unloading.

has already been set forth in the beginning that in the hitherto known methods of dyeing strings of yarn, the tube systems for suspending the strings of yarn were firmly mounted in the vessels for treatment of the yarn and the strings of yarn had always to be suspended there. Changing each treatment vessel took a considerable time due to suspending and removing or changing the position of the strings of yarn. During this time treatment was interrupted. To keep these idle periods as short as possible, the capacities of the treatment vessels had hitherto to be limited and thus the batches of dyed yarn had to be small with the result that different and not uniform degrees of colouring were obtained between the individual batches since certain differences of shade will always occur between the individual batches even if such dififerences of shade are small. It was therefore necessary to give each shade of the dyed yarn an identification number and to store, sell and work the individual shades separately.

According to the present invention, the charging operation is a matter of a few seconds irrespective of whether a large or small quantity of yarn to be dyed is used. Thus,

there is no reason why the size of the dyeing vessels should not be increased as desired to obtain sufficiently large batches of dyed yarn of uniform shades.

I claim:

1. A method of dyeing strings of textile material comprising the steps of:

(a) winding the strings to form a packed textile material,

(b) placing the textile material in a pressure dyeing (c) providing a source of dye liquor in a circuit which is maintained under an overpressure,

(d) raising the temperature to more than C. within the dyeing zone in a time of from about 2 to 8 minutes to establish substantially the same absorption conditions for all components of the dye liquor to thereby obtain the maximum absorption speed for the dyeing process,

(e) pumping a flow of dye liquor through the yarn located in the pressure dyeing zone at an amount effective to keep substantially no accumulation of dye liquor in the dyeing zone, and

(f) recirculating the dye liquor within the circuit to pass each component of the dye liquor through the circuit at a return rate greater than 8 times per minute.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,985,502 5/1961 Kronsbein et a1. 814-9.1 X

FOREIGN PATENTS 410,557 4/1945 Italy.

WILLIAM I. PRICE, Primary Examiner US. Cl. X.R. 

